Stackable container



March 9, 1965 F. M. NA cHER ETAL 3,172,562

STACKABLE CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 18, 1963 INVENTORS 4250 M W45CAZ-7Q M26081. J6//W4A7Z BYM 1 W March 9, 1965 F. M. NASCHER ETAL 3,172,562

STACKABLE CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 18, 1963 INVENTORS 634 58 4. Jw/w wrz BY M #5 Wald .4770Z/Vf'14 5 M M 5 Q United States Patent Delaware Filed Mar. 18, 1963, Ser. No. 266,000 3 Claims. (Cl. 220-97) The present invention relates to a stackable container having vertical grooves (formed in its inner wall surfaces adapted to removably receive vertically disposed divider members for the purpose of dividing the container into "compartrnents.

More specifically, the present invention is directed to a container of the foregoing type which is integnally formed from a single piece of material. While the present invention specifically contemplates the use of plastic material its application is nevertheless not tobe thus limited.

The conventional practice at the present time in manufacturing containers of the foregoing type is to provide l3. slightly outward slope of the side and end walls, whereby an upper container is stacked upon :a lower identical container by wedging the bottom of the upper container inside the top of the lower container. While this product has found widespread usage for :a number of years it is nevertheless limited by or subject to several disadvantages, as follows:

(a) The wedging method of stacking necessarily limits the height of a stack which can be reliably self-support- (b) The wedging sometimes is tighter than desired, resulting in considerable difficulty in separating the stacked containers from each other;

(c) Due to the slope in the side and end walls, the

divider members inserted into the grooves in the Walls tend to fit too tightly at the bottom of the container but not tightly enough at the top of the container. One object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a novel stackable container which will overcome the disadvantages of presently known containers as described above.

Another object of the invention is to provide stackable containers of the type described, which are capable of being reliably stacked to a high level.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stackable container of the foregoing type in which the compartment dividers fit rather tightly, but which has a lead-in provided which makes the insertion of the dividers very easy and convenient.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood from the following description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a container in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end View of the container of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a partial sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional elevational view of a stacked pair of the containers, taken as on the line 55 of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a wall of the container taken between the grooves therein; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating a modified form of the invention.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 to 6 of the drawings, the stackably superimposed containers A and B of FIG- "ice URE 5 are identical. The description will therefore be directed only to the container A.

The container A includes a horizontally disposed bottom wall 10 which is of a substantially rectangular configuration, a parallel pair of side walls 11 and 13 which extend vertically upward from the bottom wall, and a parallel pair of end walls 12 and 14 which extend vertically upward from the bottom Wall. At the corners of the container the side and end walls merge into each other in curved sections identified as 25. A plurality of vertical grooves 15 are formed on the inner surface of each of the side and end walls, and it will be seen that the spacing and alignment of the grooves is such that a pair of the grooves 15 in the end walls 12 and 14 are adapted to receive a vertical divider member 22 which is disposed lengthwise of the container, while a pair of grooves 15 in the side walls 11 and 13 are adapted to receive a vertical divider member 21 which is disposed transversely of the container.

While the invention is not thus limited, in the illustrated embodiment the wall thickness of the container is substantially uniform throughout. Therefore, corresponding to each of the vertical grooves 15 on the inner surface of the side and end walls there is a ridge 15a which extends vertically and is formed by the outwardly projecting portion of the side or end wall that corresponds with the particular groove.

At the upper extremity of the container each of the side and end walls is stepped horizontally outwardly by at least the wall thickness so as to provide a shoulder or ledge or inner shelf 16 which extends around the entire circumference of the container. The shoulder or ledge 16 is best seen in FIGURE 6, and its purpose is to stackably support the superimposed container B as illustrated in FIGURE 5. Above the shoulder 16 the side and end walls again continue vertically upward for a short distance, these vertical wall extensions being indicated by the reference numeral for the wall with the letter a added thereto. For example, the portion of end wall 12 which extends vertically above the ledge or shoulder 16 is designated 12a, and may best be seen in FIGURE 3. In a similar fashion the curved corner wall portions of the container extending above the shoulder 16 are designated 25a.

Each of the side and end wall extensions 11a, 12a, 13a, and 14a, has a plurality of additional grooves 17 formed therein, which are in alignment with respective ones of the grooves 15. That is, while each of the grooves 17 is offset horizontally from its associated groove 15 because of the horizontal offset of the wall extension in relation to the main part of the wall itself, nevertheless, insofar as a transverse divider member such as 21, or a longitudinal divider member such as 22 is concerned, the additional or upper grooves 17 are in precise alignment with the lower grooves 15. As may best be seen in FIGURE 3 the grooves 17 have considerably more width, measured horizontally along the length of the associated wall, than do the grooves 15. The reason for this is to accommodate the protruding wall sections or ridges 15a of the superimposed container. While the shoulder or ledge 16 does extend around the entire circumference of the container it is to some extent interrupted by each of the pairs of grooves 15 and 17; however, at each groove location a horizontal jog is provided in the shoulder or ledge 16 which is identified as 16a.

At the tops of the vertical wall extensions 11a, 120, etc., each of these side and end walls is then turned horizontally outward to provide a head or hand gripping portion 18 which extends around the entire circumference of the container. At the outer edge of the bead 18 there a is a downwardly turned portion 19 for greater convenience in gripping the container by hand.

When two of the containers are stackably superimposed as illustrated in FIGURE the bottom Wall of the upper container rests upon the entire length of the shoulder or ledge 16, and each of the wall protrusions or ridges a of the upper container preferably but not necessarily engages the corresponding shoulder jog 16a in the lower container. This positive vertical support permits the containers when fully loaded to be stacked to a considerable height with no danger of sliding or upsetting. Furthermore, the ridges 15a of the upper container are confined within the upper groove 17 of the lower container, and while this is a relatively loose confinement the large number of these support locations extending around the entire circumference of the container provides a high degree of assurance of correct alignment and reliable support.

A further advantage of the upper grooves 17 is that, in inserting one of the vertical dividers such as 21 or 22, the divider may initially be guided into a pair of the grooves 17 and thereafter more precisely placed in the lower pair of grooves 15. This is found to save a considerable amount of time in the hand labor of inserting dividers into the container.

Another advantage of the invention is that the essentially corrugated wall structure above the shoulder or ledge 16 is, because of the flexible nature of the material, capable of making longitudinal adjustments in the horizontal plane, along the length of each wall, to compensate for changes in temperature or mechanical stress. At the same time the structure is essentially columnar from the standpoint of vertical support, hence the handle grip 18- 19 provides a secure means of lifting the container when fully loaded. It will be noted that while the finger space outside each upper wall protrusion 17a is rather limited, it is nevertheless very adequate between adjacent protrusions 17a.

Although not presently illustrated, grooves 17 are preferably narrowed at their lower ends, adjacent ledge portions 16a, to better guide the dividers into grooves 15.

Reference is now made to FIGURE 7 illustrating a modified form of the invention. After a set of the dividers 21 and 22 are inserted into the container and the compartments are loaded, it may be desired to cover them with a lid 28. The lid 28 rests on ledge 16. Also, recesses'27 are preferably formed in each wall, extension such as 13a, between grooves 17, to receive the edges of lid 28 which is then snapped into place. The superimposed container B is then, as Will be evident, rested on top of the lid 28.

The invention has been described in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent laws by providing a full public disclosure of at least one of its forms. However, such detailed description is not intended in any way to limit the broad features or principles of the invention, or the scope of patent monopoly to be granted.

We claim:

1. An integrally formed container adapted to slidably receive vertically disposed compartment dividers, and stackable with other like containers, comprising:

a substantially rectangular, horizontally disposed bottom wall;

parallel side Walls joined to and extending vertically upward from said bottom wall;

parallel end walls joined -to and extending vertically upward from said bottom wall, and joined to said side walls; the upper extremities of said side and end walls being stepped horizontally outwardly by at least the wall thickness to provide an inner shelf extending around the circumference of said container and adapted to stackably support a superimposed identical container, said side and end walls continuing vertically upwardly above said shelf and then extending horizontally outwardly and curving downwardly to form a hand grip around the circumference of said container; said side and end Walls being of substantially uniform thickness throughout, and at least one of said wall pairs having a plurality of pairs of vertical grooves formed in the interior wall surfaces thereof commencing at said shelf and extending downwardly therefrom, each of said pairs of grooves being adapted to removably receive a divider, the exterior wall surfaces of said one wall pair having vertical ridges formed thereon corresponding to said grooves;

and the portions of said one wall pair extending above said shelf also having grooves formed in the interior wall surfaces thereof, aligned with respective ones of said first-named grooves, and adapted to receive said ridges of a stackably superimposed identical container.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said grooves above said shelf are substantially wider, measured along the length of said shelf, than said grooves extending below said shelf.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 wherein recesses are formed in said side and end walls immediately above said shelf, adapted for snap-locking insertion of a lid resting upon said shelf.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner, 

1. AN INTEGRALLY FORMED CONTAINER ADAPTED TO SLIDABLY RECEIVE VERTICALLY DISPOSED COMPARTMENT DIVIDERS, AND STACKABLE WITH OTHER LIKE CONTAINERS, COMPRISING: A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR, HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED BOTTOM WALL; PARALLEL SIDE WALLS JOINED TO AND EXTENDING VERTICALLY UPWARD FROM SAID BOTTOM WALL; PARALLEL END WALLS JOINED TO AND EXTENDING VERTICALLY UPWARD FROM SAID BOTTOM WALL, AND JOINED TO SAID SIDE WALLS; THE UPPER EXTREMITIES OF SAID SIDE AND END WALLS BEING STEPPED HORIZONTALLY OUTWARDLY BY AT LEAST THE WALL THICKNESS TO PROVIDE AN INNER SHELF EXTENDING AROUND THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID CONTAINER AND ADAPTED TO STACKABLY SUPPORT A SUPERIMPOSED INDENTICAL CONTAINER, SAID SIDE AND END WALLS CONTINUING VERTICALLY UPWARDLY ABOVE SAID SHELF AND THEN EXTENDING HORIZONTALLY OUTWARDLY AND CURVING DOWNWARDLY TO FORM A HAND GRIP AROUND THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF SAID CONTAINER; SAID SIDE AND END WALLS BEING OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM THICKNESS THROUGHOUT, AND AT LEAST ONE OF SAID WALL PAIRS HAVING A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF VERTICAL GROOVES FORMED IN THE INTERIOR WALL SURFACES THEREOF COMMENCING AT SAID SHELF AND EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THEREFROM, EACH OF SAID PAIR OF GROOVES BEING ADAPTED TO REMOABLY RECEIVE A DIVIDER, THE EXTERIOR WALL SURFACES OF SAID ONE WALL PAIR HAVING VERTICAL RIDGES FORMED THEREON CORRESPONDING TO SAID GROOES; AND THE PORTIONS OF SAID ONE WALL PAIR EXTENDING ABOVE SAID SHELF ALSO HAVING GROOVES FORMED IN THE INTERIOR WALL SURFACES THEREOF, ALIGNED WITH RESPECTIVE ONES OF SAID FIRST-NAMED GROOVES, AND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID RIDGES OF A STACKABLY SUPERIMPOSED INDENTICAL CONTAINER. 